A sorry little snippet…

Hello and welcome to my snippet!

We’re in the home stretch now—those who pre-ordered Speedbump can read it now and anyone else who’s so inclined will be able to read on Monday. So I’m taking that as license to share a little more than six sentences today. It’s heavy on dialogue, but feel free to skip it if you’d rather.

This is from Red’s POV. He’s playing for a man—Ned—who had let Red play in his tavern, The Flat Rock (hehe), back before he was old enough to get in. Ezra comes in to get lunch and sits next to him at the bar, and then lets him have it (the first line is Ezra’s).

“The guy you almost hit is a friend of mine.”

“Oh. Okay. Sorry.” I fished for something to say that could take us from this to friends, but Ezra wasn’t finished with me yet.

“You’re not great at apologizing, are you?”

I shrugged and picked up the coffee cup Ned had given me about an hour before. The coffee was cold and rank. But Ned had radar for that kind of thing, and he came over with a fresh cup and traded me.

“Inexperienced. You’re the first person I’ve apologized to twice.” First person who was listening. “Am I getting any better at it?”

That surprised a few notes of laughter out of him—melodic laughter that felt like a warm hand around my cock. I couldn’t help sitting up a little straighter. A little, right.If I were a bird I’d be preening.

“Maybe.”

“Thanks. It’s a skill I’m looking to master.”

Thanks for reading!

To find links to more snippets of LGBTQIA+ fiction visit the Rainbow Snippets FB Group. It’s a public group and everyone is welcome to join.

Ezra Cook is sole caregiver to older brother Tray, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in his forties. They live outside the small town of Drop, Oregon, on property Tray bought with his Microsoft settlement money. For years, Ezra has been going on and off low doses of testosterone to maintain a comfortable level of androgyny. Ezra spends most days juggling Tray’s needs and the work required to survive in rural Oregon on a small income, ignoring their own needs, especially companionship and sleep.

Ellred “Red” Long escaped Drop at seventeen but returns to his hometown in disgrace after his band dumped him on the streets of LA. Coming back doesn’t seem like such a dead end, though, after he sees a guy walking along the side of the road in the rain and gives him a lift.

Ezra and Red’s chance meeting begins an uncomfortable friendship neither had expected, and both allow fear to keep it from escalating into a hookup, or worse, a romance. Red never meant to return to Drop and doesn’t want to get stuck there again, while Ezra’s protective walls may be too strong to breach, from either side.